Supply side did fine for a while. But all economic methods have weaknesses and the longer you run under the theory the more pain those weaknesses stack up and drag the economy down. We should have bailed on supply side by the end of Bush 1’s term.

5 posted on 12/04/2012 8:31:21 AM PST by discostu
(Not a part of anyone's well oiled machine.)

When you have the mainstream media blaming everything going bad in America on the Republicans and hidding and shielding every evil by O’bummer, what can you expect?
The Repubicans in Congress had just better nuckle down and do the right thing, no matter what, instead of trying to protect their cushy jobs. They’re going to get blamed what ever bad happens anyway. So, if there is no more Republicans, who then can they blame if the country goes to hell as it is doing right now? Maybe then the people in this country will start wising up and throw the bastards out, including their media. Then, it will time for a Revolution.

The evidence is clear from the government data. You can start by reading this.

“The post-tax-cut surge in economic growth and tax revenues helped drive down the deficit from 3.5% of gross domestic product in 2004 to 2.6% in 2005, to 1.9% in 2006 and to a manageable 1.2% in 2007.”

As for wealth concentration, can you show me the evidence where the middle and lower class is worse off than they were 50 years ago? Everyone of them have heated/air conditioned homes, cars, flat screen tvs, phones etc.?

I only had to read a couple of lines of this article. You waste your time reading the rest. Does Barack Obama like lots of money for himself? Does Hillary Clinton like lots of money for herself? Does Harry Reid like lots of money for himself? Does Nancy Pelosi like lots of money for herself? I have a grudging respect for Mao. At least he had to go on a long hike and cut some throats before he pulled the big con of tyranny masquerading as socialism on the Chinese. Our tyrants just go to law school and then become Democrats and then try to foist tyranny on us masquerading as socialists. They don’t even take a good hike, first.

18 posted on 12/04/2012 8:40:39 AM PST by blueunicorn6
("A crack shot and a good dancer")

Revisionist history, as far as I know. The Bush tax cuts generated decent economic growth, low unemployment, and improving government revenues during the period after they were fully enacted (2004-2006), and that was coming off the dot-com crash and 9/11. The Dem’s took over Congress in 2007, and that’s when things started heading in the other direction, greatly accelerated by the election of Obama and the Dem supermajority in 2008.

Internal Revenue Service data show that 3 percent of Senate staffers and more than 4 percent of House staffers owed taxes in 2010, adding up to about $10.6 million in unpaid taxes. More than 98,000 civilian federal employees were delinquent on their taxes in 2010, adding up to more than $1 billion in taxes owed, according to the IRS.

“They didn’t cause the income gap to increase. Given all the talk about Bush’s massive tax cuts for the rich, you might also think that his tax cuts contributed to a widening of the income gap. Except that didn’t happen, either. According to the Census Bureau, the “gini index” of income inequality was the same when Bush left office as when he came in. (It’s actually risen each year under Obama.)”

Odd, because in the 20s and 80s the overwhelming economic evidence is that the share of taxes paid by the rich (top 5%) go up astronomically. They double, while the share paid by the bottom two categories falls a great deal.

As for GDP, I suggest you look at Warren Brookes, "The Economy in Mind" for an assessment of the JFK tax cuts (which sparked significant growth). On the Reagan tax cuts, try "The Supply Side Revolution." Reagan's economy created 14 million (!!!!!~!) NET new jobs. Bush's smaller cuts created 6 million. Clinton, in between, still rode the Reagan cuts.

The historical evidence of the 20s, 60s, 80s, and 2000s is that whatever happens to the rich, cutting their taxes is the fastest route to increase the SHARE of taxes paid by the rich. That's why rich libs are ALWAYS in favor of increasing tax RATES, because they know the TAX REALITY and REVENUE will go down if rates go up.

As to GNP, GNP is based on a number of things, including high energy prices which dampens economic activity and overregulation. Since the 20s, we have been heavily overregulated, even in the Reagan years where there was some deregulation.

The flaw of supply side economics is that tax cuts must be accompanies by reductions in government spending. When government spending increases, this allows the value that was achieved by the tax cuts to be lost or wasted through the corresponding enlargement of federal budget deficits. Growing deficits are an assault on the economy because they have to be financed by creating money out of thin air and inflation, too much borrowing and growing national debt, and the need to raise taxes later.